Xuefei Yang's Soujourn

April 21, 2014

As the distance among the world's cultures seems to become smaller and smaller, Xuefei Yang has emerged as an artist who reveres the tradition of her instrument and embraces the possibilities of music from her native country of China.

While the guitar, in its generic form, is one of the most universal of instruments, its traditioin in classical music is firmly rooted in Europe. And while the Continent continues to produce great musicians, others are arriving on the scene from other parts of the world, Xuefei Yang among them.

Born in Beijing, she was the first Chinese guitarist to study at a conservatory (Beijing's Central Conservatory) and the first to launch an international career. When she was 14, she performed for the legendary Joaquín Rodrigo. She eventually went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London, the city she continues to call home.

With a series of recordings on the EMI label over the last several years, Soujourn brings together highlights of those releases, along with some previously unreleased music. The disc begins with five pieces by Bach, a foundational composer for all musicians, no matter which instrument. Two poetic works by Chinese composers follow, giving us a glimpse of Xuefei Yang's own cultural background.

The rest of the CD is a creatively programmed mix of Spanish classics, more from China and Taiwan, and selections from our own day, including the beautiful Cavatina from the movie The Deer Hunter.